The Blue Ashikabi
by Windseeker Spirit
Summary: Instead of Zero piloting the Shuttle into Eurasia, it's X. This one single change changes everything for all Humans and Reploids, including the space-borne X. Not in terms of personality, but in location. X, your destiny has always been in your hands; how will you handle a whole new time, let alone world? Very AU. X / Harem, Minato / Harem. Time Travel-ish. Ch. 3 finally up!
1. Crushing Gravity

The Blue Ashikabi – Megaman X / Sekirei Crossover

Rating: T for limes and language!

Pairing: X / Harem, Minato / Harem.

Summary: Instead of Zero piloting the Shuttle into Eurasia, it's X. This one single change changes everything for all Humans and Reploids, including the space-borne X. Not in terms of personality, but in location. X, your destiny has always been in your hands; how will you handle a whole new time, let alone world? Very AU.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"X! Are you sure you need to do this?!"

"Yeah, Zero. You told me yourself; 'There are things cannot be seen or analyzed correctly as data. There are things we have to feel.' I feel this strongly; it's something I have to do." The blue-armored Maverick Hunter responded calmly, staring intently on the Eurasia. "You should stay here, Zero. Who else is going to protect the Earth?"

"Don't talk as if you won't be back!" Zero snapped at his long-time friend.

"I won't die on an easy mission. If I ever become Maverick, that's when I'll have died…" X trailed off, looking around the console. "All systems green!"

"X, are you ready? This is our last chance." Signas stated calmly while looking worriedly at the shuttle.

"On your orders, Commander."

"BLAST OFF!"

The shuttle screamed off into the air, heading directly for Eurasia.

"En route to the Space Colony, and locked on. I'll get as close to it as I possibly can before abandoning it – I see a lot of debris, so I have to pilot around to avoid destroying the shuttle before it collides into the Colony. I'm closing all communications."

"X, You better make it back alive!"

A soft chuckle came from X's end. "Don't worry, Partner." With that, the communications were cut.

The Shuttle made impact with the Space/Virus colony Eurasia with a blinding, powerful explosion – a shockwave was seen, and could be felt in the Earth below.

"Alia, give us a status report!" Signas demanded.

"It crashed into the Colony! Destruction of the colony is…86%! We did it! It'll be gone in ten minutes! X! Do you read me? X!"

"X! Come In X!"

"No…I…I don't feel him…" Zero said, falling to his knees, looking at the screen in pure shock. There was no sign of the Shuttle _or_ X. No sign at all. "X...! X! _**X!"**_ Zero's scream could be heard throughout the whole of the Base.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He was being crushed; he could feel the armor on his body beginning to break and crumble, his vision went black after the explosion rocked him. He was positive he hit the ejection button just three seconds prior to impact, but it wasn't enough. A huge gravitational wave pulled him into the center of a worm hole. Why nothing else was pulled in, was beyond him.

But the next thing he realized, was that he was soaring through the sky towards Earth, well in the atmosphere. With effort, he turned; the jet propulsion from his feet greatly slowed his decent when he had less than half a mile left in the sky, and successfully landed upon the roof of a skyscraper. The first thing he did was survey the damage he incurred from that un-godlike pressure. To his great surprise and relief, he was mostly unharmed save for a dent or two. Secondly, he tried to regain contact with HQ.

"X to HQ, this is X to HQ, do you read me?" Nothing but static.

"X to Base, this is X to Base! I repeat, do you read me?" Same response. "Hmmm…Whatever I went through, it looks like it was strong enough to jam my signal, but it makes no sense." His eyes looked up to the sky, zooming into outer space. It was then that he saw an old satellite with the marking of 'MBI' written on it. "MBI? What in the world is MBI? More importantly, where and _when_ am I?" He took a few tentative steps to the edge of the skyscraper he was on, and knelt down, looking down at the citizens. He looked off to the side, and spotted an alley way, and leapt off the building. The last thing he wanted to do was startle any citizen; with a quick snap of his fingers, his armor formed into a blue tee-shirt, and dark blue jeans. He tapped a boot onto the ground, before walking out of the alley, running a hand through his dark chocolate hair. As he walked, he performed a System Analysis.

**Beginning Diagnostic Scan:**

**Emergency Acceleration System, Active: Aerial Acceleration, Available; Omni-directional dashing capability, Available: Hover capability, available: Hyper EAS Active.**

**Armor Systems:**

**Ultimate Armor Available…WARNING: Variable Weapon Systems Energy Reduction is currently broken.  
Falcon Armor Available…NOTE: Anomaly within the Flight function detected. No threat detected…scanning for anomaly. ETA: Unknown  
****Gaea Armor Available**

**Body Armor is Titanium X-Alloy with Energy shielding, currently disabled. Current defensive ability at 50%, maximum 200%.  
****Integrated Armors: Force Armor, Hyper-Max Armor, Giga Armor**

**Mega Buster Mk 20 / X-Buster Mk 3 – Currently Disabled.  
****Charged Shots adjusted to fire enhanced plasma shots. Standard buster enhanced to semi-charged state is available. Dual buster capability active. Shot Storage capability available. Spread Shot available (Megaman X1 Full-Charge shot)**

**Integrated Armor Specialties:  
****Nova Strike – WARNING! Infinite use is unusable; recharges over time at a high rate. Currently – 0% charged, Disabled.  
****Hyper Cannon – 0% Full – Disabled.  
****Giga Crush – 100% full – Enabled.  
****Gaea Crush – 0% full – Disabled.  
****Falcon Crush – 0% full – Disabled.**

**Charge any of the above?**

'Deplete and disable Giga Crush to charge and enable Gaea Crush. Wait for confirmation for the others.'

**Scanning Variable Weapons System**

**WARNING – Several Files are corrupted. Restore Corrupt Files?**

'List available files.'

**Storm Tornado, Shotgun Ice  
Speed Burner, Magnet Mine  
****Gravity Well, Acid Burst  
****Soul Body, Twin Cyclone  
****Dark Hold, Tri-Thunder**

'Recover Rolling Shield, Crystal Hunter, Bubble Splash, Tunnel Fang, Frost Tower, and Crescent Shot with top priority, then the rest. List and remove any files that are unable to be recovered when complete.'

**Beginning Recovery – ETA: One week for Rolling Shield and Crystal Hunter. WARNING: Only two Variable Weapons are usable – Dark Hold and Magnet Mine. All Others are depleted on energy. Charge?**

'Over time. Recovery takes priority; If Rolling Shield is without energy, charge it before recovering any others. In the event that Dark Hold is used and completely drained, that takes priority over all others to get recharged as fast as possible.'

**Acknowledged. End of Diagnostic Checks.**

As he walked, his eyes went to a newspaper stand and frowned at what he saw. 'Shin Teito, Japan, huh? Year 2020. So I'm over 100 years in the past.' Turning to look up at a news screen, his ears twitched and eyes narrowed. "In breaking economic news, Hirato Minaka, president of the giant conglomerate business MBI has announced that the company bought up 80% of all Shin Teito stocks. " The news reporter kept talking, but X's attention was diverted back to introspection, as he started to walk north.

'So a company that can buy 80% of one of the larger, if not largest cities in the world…I don't like the sound of that.' He looked up at the sky as thunder roared overhead, black clouds rolling in. With a frown, X started to run for the nearest shelter…but his attention was pulled away when he looked up at the sound of a young woman shouting 'Water Celebration!' from atop one of the larger skyscrapers.

'Somehow I shouldn't have of expected there to be any peace here.' He thought as he ran into an alley way; his blue clothing changed into his trademark armor, then quickly flashed to white as the Falcon Armor was equipped. Quickly he scaled the walls until he was at the very top, then kicked off, rocketing towards the sound of the woman

**Falcon Anomaly confirmed. Increased Flight speed; Duration able to maintain flight is doubled. Increased strength of protection energy field. **

X landed on the very top of the building, dropping from mid-air as the Falcon Armor was removed, eyeing the scene with a curious look; three women were seen, a blonde with a black overcoat and long, white and frilly corset, a shield of water cascading down from the air. The other two were raven-haired twins, both donning S&M outfits, one pink the other dark purple.

"Thou dare challenge me? I am number nine, Tsukiumi!"

"Numbers 11 and 12!" They both said in synch, then the one wearing purple continued; "Hikari!" Her voice held a large tone of cockiness and power, while the other's was more respectful and calm, but still held power. "Hibiki!" Together they started to shimmer with electricity, causing X to jump into action.

His armor turned into a deep purple, as he snapped his fingers, using Dark Hold. Only He and Tsukiumi stood moving, everything else looked like a Photo Negative. She looked around, stunned, and glared up at X. "What are thou doing?! This is supposed to be a one-on-one Sekirei fight!"

He didn't say anything, instead moving to grab her, and jump off of the building with her in grasp. He turned around after setting her down, ten blocks away, the Photo Negative-like space of Tokyo returned to normal. In the distance, both of them could hear the other two screaming and cussing up a storm.

"Ah, Sorry about that, Miss. They looked to be extremely powerful right then, and I wasn't about to let a civilian get injured like that." He was met with a slap across the face.

"Thou sullied my honor by doing that…that spell! That was supposed to be an honorable one-on-one duel amongst Sekireis – I could more than handle them easily enough!"

He blinked in minor shock; the slap hadn't had any effect upon him, but rather it was a messed up concept of honor and one-on-one. "Uh, Miss…If I'm not mistaken, one-on-one _truly_ meant one-on-one. Not two-on-one."

"Their powers are half as effective should they not remain within a physical distance of each other."

"Okay, you win that one. What do you know of water and electricity though?"

This stopped her fuming, and blinked somewhat – paying attention now.

He tapped the slightly flooded alley street with his metal foot. "Water is a valuable source of nature, no doubt about it; everybody needs to drink it in order to sustain themselves and keep themselves healthy. As an element, it's also formidable. But, there is one drawback to it. It's _extremely_ conductive." His green eyes narrowed, beginning to observe her more acutely. "Meaning had those two actually had used their power on you, you _would_ be cooked. Extra crispy."

"What about that building?"

"It'd probably be fine. While steel is also highly conductive, they most likely have lightning rods in place to attract stray lightning or whatever's on the building. I doubt it'd actually make it inside the building either. It really depends on the material structure of the building."

She gave a pensive look and then looked at her now blue-armored savior. "May I have your name?"

"I'm called Mega Man X, though many people just call me X."

"I am Sekirei number Nine, Tsukiumi."

With a nod, he walked past her with a wave of his hand. "It was nice meeting you, Tsukiumi-san. Try staying out of trouble until it stops raining. Might wanna get some shelter too and dry off, before you get sick."

Her hands became clasped in front of her heart, a small blush coming over her visage as she looked down. 'This knight of shining blue armor…He worried for me and saved me. What…is this heat I'm feeling? No...It can't be!' Her eyes widened and her pulse quickened, whipping around to look at him – only to find that he wasn't there. 'Where…did he go? Did he use that black spell again?' She snarled, face still flush with embarrassment. "If I see you again, I'll kill you before you try and violate me, Ashikabi!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

X looked down at the alley where she made her declaration, an eyebrow raising somewhat. "Violate? Ashikabi? Sekirei? I don't remember ever reading about this in any history books." Standing upright, he turned and proceeded to building-hop in the rain. He stopped as he saw what had to have been the largest building in all of Japan, after leaping around blindly for hours. Leaning against a steel I-beam of an incomplete building, he stopped to think about what had happened in the past few hours, as clear night came.

"Well, I never knew of any sekirei who wore blue plate armor." An attractive, feminine voice came from the side with a giggle. She wore a purple Chinese dress, showing off ample bust and some of her stomach with long purple-black hair tied into a ponytail cascading down her chest.

His eyes turned from the largest building and looked at her, dumbstruck. "How do you know I'm a sekirei?"

"Simple. Humans don't have anywhere _near_ the potential to jump that far, or that distance. You kind of surprised me, honestly."

"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint. I'm not a sekirei, nor am I human." He said with a slight grin. "I take it…you are?"

"Mhm. Number 3, Kazehana, at your service." She held up a sake bottle. "Care to join me and tell me more?"

"No thanks. I don't get drunk at all. It's impossible. But I'll share first, if you care to share some information too."

Nodding, she extended a hand which he took pleasantly.

"My name is Mega Man X, many people call me 'X'. I am known as what is called a Reploid from the year 21XX. Reploid means 'Replicated Android.' I am a robot that has free will, something unheard of during the time of my creation. For that reason, I was supposed to be sealed away for thirty years, when my creator and father Doctor Light felt the World would be ready for such a thing, but something went wrong and I ended up being found 70 years later by a man named Dr. Cain."

Kazehana, though drunk, paid rapt attention to this man's story. "What does your name mean? X, that is."

"X is a variable in mathematics. It can mean _anything._ I was given free will, and the power to make my own decisions. I evolve, like humans do. Sekirei too, I'm guessing. Care to share some information with me now? Like what are Sekirei and Ashikabi?"

She grinned somewhat. "Sekirei...we're alien life forms that have a 99.9% resemblance to humans in terms of physiology. There are a total of 108 of us, and each of us has different powers. For example, I control the wind." She said, demonstrating this with a small, cherry blossom filled sphere of wind. "An Ashikabi…is someone who gives us power; they make us emerge. They're ordinary humans, and are far-and-few in between. We can tell when someone's our Ashikabi when we feel an unbearable heat consume us, whenever they're near. Any Sekirei who has, or has had an Ashikabi can never be winged again." She smiled somewhat at him.

"What about you? Do you have an Ashikabi?"

"No. The man I wanted didn't want anything to do with me, so I went on a nation-wide sake-tasting tour." She said while hugging the sake bottle.

"Hm...Sounds sad." He looked at the sky again, moon hanging high overhead.

"Have you ever been in love, X?"

"Can't say that I myself have. My partner Zero has, but…that relationship ended badly."

"Oh?"

"A story for another day, Kazehana-san. A story for another day." He said, frowning.

She nodded with a slight grin. "If you're looking for a place to stay, there's this little inn called Izumo Inn to the north. The Landlady can be a little scary, but she won't turn anyone down. Tell her that I sent you with old wishes and regards."

With a bow, X turned to the city once again, shifting into the Falcon Armor once again and earning the surprise of Kazehana. Whether or not he cared wasn't seen, but he bid her farewell all the same, rocketing into the sky.

Kazehana pulled a cellphone out from her dressed, and dialed a familiar number. "There's someone on their way to the inn. He's a unique one, no relation to MBI, but he knows of Sekirei and Ashikabi." A long pause, and a giggle. "I trust him on this. His wind was naive, innocent, strong and calming. I can already tell that he'll make a large impact on this ridiculous Sekirei plan. Somehow… Good night, Miya." She clicked her phone closed, and smiled as she stared out into the clear, starry night sky. "X may not be my destined Ashikabi, but he's definitely runner up."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

X landed roughly four buildings from Izumo Inn, having changed back into his 'civilian' form, donning the dry blue shirt, denim jeans, and leather boots. He overlooked himself, making sure he looked at least _somewhat_ presentable. With a shrug, he gently knocks on the door once he dashed towards it, leaving afterimages of blue.

"Coming." A smooth male voice was heard from the other side of the door; said man who opened the door looked like a lady-killer; a top-end black suit covering pale skin. This man's amber eyes met with X's green. "Ah, you must be our guest of the evening. Kazehana called and informed us of your arrival."

"Ah…Yeah. From what I was told though, the landlord was a lady." This earned a soft chuckle.

"I've gotten that once or twice before. I'm not the landlord, I'm a tenant here. Name's Kagari."

X bowed calmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kagari-san, I am Rock Light. May I inquire about the landlady's whereabouts?"

"Ah, she's actually taking care of another stray couple who, believe it or not, landed in our back yard not too long ago, but follow me – I'll take you to the dining room."

"Arigato, Kagari-san."

The Inn itself was what one would find out of the Feudal era or so. Even then, X couldn't help but marvel the charm of such a place. "To think I would never be able to see such a styled house."

"Yeah, this is a rare place by itself. It's fairly nice, too. Anyway, here we are. Sorry I couldn't stay much longer, I have work tonight."

"Ah, Arigato again, Kagari-san, and be safe at work." X said, bowing respectfully at the host.

"I'll try to be, as much as I can be anyway." Kagari said with a wave.

Turning to the Shoji, X carefully slid it open, poking his head in. "Um..Hello?"

Three sets of heads looked over to the door; a brunette, buxom woman and a raven-haired man, both looking to be roughly the same age, and a lilac-haired woman. She stood and bowed to him. "Come in, come in, a new guest is always welcome here at Izumo Inn." With a nod, X took a seat on the floor on an empty table-side. "I am the landlady of this inn, Miya Asama."

"Good evening sir, I'm Minato, and this is Musubi." The raven-haired male said pleasantly while extending a hand out to X.

With a nod and smile, the reploid took the hand with a friendly grin. "It's an honor to meet you three; my name is Rock Light." Turning his attention towards Miya, he asked "I'm told that Kazehana called ahead and informed you of my arrival?"

"Yes, she did." Miya looked at her two new tenants and nodded with a smile. "Go on ahead, I've cleaned and set up your rooms." The two nodded and bid their farewells to the two. Once the Shoji closed and footsteps were heard going up the stairs, Miya turned to X. "So, Rock-san, I suspected you to look a little different. This is not your regular form, I'm assuming?"

"You're a sharp one, Miya-dono." He sighed, and looked around; "There's also two other people in this building as well, aside from you, Kagari-san, Musubi-san, and Minato-san."

"Ara ara, you're sharp yourself, Rock-san. Don't worry; any secrets you have to share are safe here."

Nodding, X shifted into his usual armored form, and explained the situation to her; what reploids are, what time frame he's from, and what had happened prior to his coming here, while leaving out the messy and scientific details. As he shifted into his Civilian form, her flabbergasted face gave him a chuckle.

"So there you have it, Miya-dono. I don't have any place to go or any money. While I don't _need_ shelter, it's certainly nice to have. Is there any form of an agreement we can come to? Work for rent or something?"

She nodded. "Of course, there's always work that can be done around here. Today has been a busy day, I must say; three new tenants in four hours. There are only three main rules you must follow; I do not allow violence within the inn, I do not allow sexual acts, and mixed bathing _is_ allowed, that's all I suggest you do."

He smiled broadly; "You're a good person, Miya-dono. I've…been fighting for a long time, so the violence thing will be a fresh start for me, and due to a lack of a certain...anatomy, I'm safe on the sexual acts," he finished with a chuckle.

"It was my husband's belief that no one in need be turned away."

"He's also a good man. One I wish I could have met." He said, picking up on her tone.

"Yes that he was. Anyway, come with me – I'll show you where you'll be staying for now and the baths. Even if your main body is made of metal, it can still be cleansing for the soul, right?" She said, rising up to her feet; X followed with a small smile.

"Thank you so much, Miya-dono. For everything."

"It's alright. You seemed sincere enough, even without the armor, and I trust a former team mate, even if she is a drunkard now-a-days." She said with a giggle; if X didn't know any better, he could've sworn he saw a Hanya mask appearing behind her.

'She's…actually kind of scary.' X thought, a sweat drop forming at the side of his head.

As they walked up the stairs, a set of glasses shimmered in the glow of a couple of monitors with a grin forming over the owner's mouth. "Ohhh, I can't wait to try and experiment on him. He's so damn interesting! Just you wait, Rock. I can tell that you're Ashikabi material."

X stopped mid-walk, and looked back at the wall, raising an eyebrow. His thermal scanner was picking up a fair bit of heat, and a womanly form. 'What kind of secrets are here, in this unassuming inn?' Turning back, he followed Miya once again.  
-END-  
X: Are you sure this is a good idea, Cet?

Mmm. Who knows. But I like what I did with the intro.

X: Even if it's a near rip-off of the script?

Sacrifices had to be made, good sir!

X: You made Zero totally OOC!

Even if that's so, it seemed fitting given the situation.

X: And what's this about a harem with me?! I'm a reploid, what'd be the point of putting me with a harem! Alia's going to murder you too.

Bah, it's not going to be _that_ big…Maybe four, five tops? Besides, it'll end up good character development, and I have a solution to that whole 'reploid' problem! I have to, in order for you to get any sekirei! At least you won't end up like a whiny, pacifistic bitch! Anyway, I'm rather pleased with how this turned out; the story will follow very few key events from either anime or manga. Minato will end up with the same amount of sekirei. However, as you can see, two of the Sekirei _at least_ will be different.

X: Just how much of this do you have planned out?!

A lot more than Lost Numbers, that's for damn sure. I'm going out on a limb for once and going extremely AU with this, because normally I like to stick with a majority of Canon, especially in terms of backstory, which is redundant, so this is a nice change of pace for me. I'm also going to be introducing some other things, things that make Ashikabi more…useful, other than just winging and empowering Sekirei. X won't be the _only_ Ashikabi who will be fighting alongside his Sekirei. Also, the diagnostics thing is something I've mimicked from zhead's story I,X Your Familiar, a Familiar of Zero / Mega Man X crossover. While I've largely tried to deviate from his use, unfortunately most of it stayed like his.

As I've stated, X will not be as pacifistic as he was in X7. He'll hate fighting, but it won't be thrown off the table entirely. To reflect this, the reason for his V.W.S. priority is to take on a more defensive and/or utility roll, rather than pure destruction – It's especially seen with Storm Tornado; that in the original game is insanely Overpowered – you can tear through the whole game using that, save bosses. It still has its destructive power but it will also have the ability to be used in a similar fashion to Tornado Hold from Mega Man 8 (used to lift things / Rock into the air.)

On the note of Tsukiumi not knowing about water conducting electricity…from what I've read from fanfictions and gathered from my own observations, Sekirei are given mostly everything in order to adapt to the Japanese Culture; namely television. While yes, television has many educational shows / channels, they may not watch them. Tsukiumi may be intelligent, but there has to be some form of dense-ness. I mean, think about it for a moment; going to the Anime, episode 5, when Tsukiumi is standing and over-looking the city and is challenged by the twins, she erects a water shield. Yeah, the shield may have acted like a conductor and grounded the electricity, but there's the chance that she didn't know that water is conductive. She might not have of thought about it at the time.

I gave his civilian form the name of 'Rock Light,' because of the fact that he's not going to want to reveal his reploid form for as long as possible; Tsukiumi and Kazehana are exceptions as they saw him in his reploid form. While Miya and Matsu _did_ see his reploid form, and have some information, it wasn't enough to really warrant him giving out any vital information.


	2. Failures in Dreams

_The Blue Ashikabi_

A Megaman X / Sekirei Crossover

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters within this story; all property towards their successful owners. I make no profit off of this what so ever.

Chapter 2 – The Failing and The Dreaming Emergence

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_As they walked up the stairs, a set of glasses shimmered in the glow of a couple of monitors with a grin forming over the owner's mouth. "Ekusu Light, huh? I can feel it, your potential and power. I feel a small resonance the more I look at you. You're not quite strong enough yet, but I can tell...you might just be my destined."_

_X stopped mid-walk, and looked back at the wall, raising an eyebrow. His thermal scanner was picking up a fair bit of heat, and a womanly form. 'What kind of secrets are here, in this unassuming inn?' Turning back, he followed Miya once again._

X stood in the farthest room from the stairs, Thermal scanners examined the doors as he passed. Room 202 had one person inside of it, a female, while 203 had both male and female signatures inside of it. 'Minato and Musabi, no doubt,' He thought. They came to a stop; an empty room was opened to him.

"Your room will be here, and tomorrow we'll discuss labor and work." She gave a small bow towards him which was returned, only to walk out of X's way. As she left, his eyes went back to the far end of the hallway, peering still at the heat signatures with a frown. 'What could be someone's reason for hiding? It makes absolutely no sense…' He had decidedly cut his introspection short, and walked into the room. 'No matter, I'll worry about it if and when the time comes. For now…I think another diagnostics test is in order, as well as some rest.'

With that thought, X lied down upon the futon slowly, not bothering to remove his shirt or jeans as his consciousness, for lack of better terms, fell into a dream-filled slumber…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_SIGMA! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" A 'younger' X stood tall against his former Commander; anger, sorrow, and hatred overflowing from him. This man, who had become his commander and ultimately betrayed the Maverick Hunters, who caused his best friend's death, stood in front of him with a smirk plastered over that face that conveyed arrogance._

"_X. I see a new clarity in your eyes. It seems like you're almost ready to fight me."_

"_No more games, Sigma! No more! I Swear I'll make you pay for Zero's death! His Sacrifice won't be in vain!" _

_X's arm arose, and fueled by the sheer passion within, he released a single, large sphere of red energy. Sigma batted it away with his sword as he sped towards X's position, who jumped over his head, firing an Electric Spark. Sigma turned just in time for the hot pink ball of electricity to strike his face, causing a small cloud of smoke to envelop his head. The gem upon his forehead glistened, before releasing a wave of energy bullets as X landed upon the ground. He shot at it with a regular buster shot, causing it to explode in his face. _

_The smoke cleared from the two individuals' visages now, both bearing similar damage to their heads. X's buster began to give off a loud hum as he charged up, and climbed a nearby wall, causing Sigma to follow him. Once Sigma was at eye-level and started heading to him with sword drawn, X fired and let go of the wall as 3 balls of pure energy erupted at the ex-Commander. Sigma slapped them away and landed, turning to face X, only to stare stunned at him. There was a strange wave of energy flowing from within him; something that his lieutenants had. _

"_HADOKEN!" X shouted, slamming the heels of his palms together and pushing them outwards, releasing a fireball of pure, destructive force. Sigma tried to block the energy, but it proved too much. The following explosions blinded X; Once X could see again, he stared wide-eyed with Sigma standing; albeit, just barely. To put it bluntly, Sigma's body was in shambles. Cracks all over the protective armoring, the flexible under-suit was entirely missing; his sword was destroyed, having tried to take up too much energy. He could see the metal surface of Sigma's head, most of the artificial flesh being removed in the blast, and the gem on his mind's eye was shattered into pieces. _

"_I knew…you were the one, X." Sigma said quietly, just before the body exploded. The far wall lit up, a crane of some sort rocketed out, and grabbed Sigma's head from the body's remnants. Once the head was secured in place, a wolf-faced, limbed body broke through the wall. _

"_It's not over yet X! The Doom, the mayhem, the destruction! I'll show you the true potential of reploids!"_

"_You? Potential?" X snarled uncharacteristically. "You really are insane, Sigma! I'm going to end this, right here and now! For humanity, for myself, and for Zero! Your madness stops here!" X said, energy welling up inside of him. "I'll show you the power of the Maverick Hunters!"_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_Z-Zero…" The red-armored reploid stood before X, arms folded across his chest with an angered look in his eyes; he stood in front of Sigma's new body, and was itching for a fight with him. _

"_You think I'm here for _your_ sake, Hunter?" Zero spat as energy coalesced around him. "No, after what you failed to do, I'm here for my own sake."_

_Sigma just let out a cruel laugh. "He's not too happy that you let him die and didn't bother trying to get his body back. I'll be watching with eager anticipation, X." Another cruel laugh reverberated through the Command Center as he teleported away._

"_Zero...Snap out of it! I don't want to fight you!"_

"_Tough shit, X!" Zero exclaimed, shooting the charged energy at X and then swinging a beam-saber down, a wave of energy coming out. X leapt up onto the wall to dodge the combo, and then dashed over Zero's head when he slammed his fist into the ground. The whole place shook as the floor was in total shambles. Just what kind of power has Sigma given him? He would keep dodging Zero's attacks, not once had he taken the opportunities when presented._

"_Are you just going to keep running around, X?! You're nothing like what you used to be! Come at me with everything you have – if you don't, I will kill you." His energy exploded, proving his intent to kill. "We're destined to fight, hunter. I'm a maverick, and you are a hunter. What's the problem with that logic?"_

_The phrase he shouted at Sigma, just before he destroyed him six months ago rang clear in his head. 'For humanity, for myself, and for Zero!' Like with Zero, X's energy began to coalesce around him. "Zero…I tried to get you back. I honestly did. I never…found them, the ones with your parts. But that's not enough; not enough to repay for my insult." With a sudden burst of resolve, X pointed his buster at Zero. "I failed you twice before, but I won't make that mistake ever again!"_

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
_

X found himself standing within Outer Space. With a wayward glance, he looked down at his body – what was...left of the armor, at least, then he surveyed the area, light filtering into the area - various battles from wars past had started to play, over multiple screens that seemingly just appeared. They were all from his point of view; valiantly fighting to protect human and reploid kind alike. A hundred years of fighting and war. Each passing battle caused X's heart to crumble a little more, agonizing at the chances to end it peacefully instead of fighting. However, he couldn't help but wonder if this path he had chosen _was_ the only way.

Even when he was rendered helpless by Vile's Stun-beam, he was hoping for a faint glint that Vile would listen to reason – maverick or not. But that naivety had lead to the death of his best friend, Zero. Tears fell from his face as he relived the memory of Zero, staring him down with a look of neigh inconceivable hatred. Even though he tried to get the parts back, he had failed to save the man who saved him numerous times in the past. Even in the third war with Doppler who was driven mad by the Sigma Virus, his mind told him that there were other ways to a resolution that was without bloodshed. There had to be.

He looked over at one particular screen, the Repliforce incident; Zero had gone to the Final Weapon, and fought Iris. Even in times of peace, X couldn't console his brother-in-arms. Doubt clouded his mind, wondering if everything done – Zero's hunt for the Colonel and Repliforce-gone-rogue, his own trails, though led astray by Double, and the ultimate destruction of an entire Reploid Military branch and a space station, wondered if co-existence between reploid and human was ever attainable, more so with reploids fighting amongst each other like humans. While reploids were all a product of his design, he still felt responsible. Anger began to cloud his mind, combining with doubt. He hated them; the wars, the death, the pain. X felt weak to his soul, sick of himself, and sick of it all.

The memories all stopped playing and repeating when Sigma's insignia came into full view on each 'screen,' glistening with power as his anger grew. A field of light illuminated from behind X, who turned around when a familiar voice disrupted his revere. "X…"

"Doctor…Light?"

The good doctor nodded, arms folded behind his back. He wasn't like his usual, blue hologram self; while his body distorted like a hologram, he looked fully human and corporeal. "My dear X…I can't help but question 'Did I do the right thing,' when I first created your predecessor, Mega Man, or more affectionately known as Rock." A flash of fond memories washed over the professor; when the boy was first activated and worked with Roll without a fuss – in fact, they looked like a happy family. The pride he felt when his son offered himself for the sake of justice… "I made all of my robots with the best intentions. I wanted to help humanity, usher in peace for the world. The first eight robot masters I made, I made for the use of peace and creation. Rock and his sister Roll were to be my lab assistants. When Wily took the six I had made and made them into tools of War, Rock had volunteered himself to have the same done – to become a weapon. I never once asked my own son if he regretted it." The old man finally looked his age; his shoulders sag as unshed tears remained in his eyes. "X…While you are your own person, a younger brother to Rock, you are effectively the same person. I won't make the same mistake again…" He trailed off, looking at X who was stunned into silence. "Do you regret it, X? Do you regret having to fight so much, to fight your own people who are deemed maverick?"

For all his worth, X was shocked to his very soul; Dr. Light's words struck many chords within him. It was here and now that he realized that there _was_ a reason for the constant fighting. The very same reason he had disregarded and all but forgotten about, all for a more peaceful solution. "I regret…having to fight. I regret not seeking peaceful solutions. I want to stop the fighting. But do I regret fighting for the sake of humanity? No! That's why I fight. I'll keep fighting to see humans and reploids prosper!" He spoke, becoming more animated as he did.

Thomas nodded his head, and walked over to X, pulling his creation – no, second son, into a hug. "There are others who need you now. Zero can and will take care of the humans and reploids – that much I'm sure of." The empty void of space started to crumble and dissipate slowly. "Trust yourself and your instincts. Trust the bonds you have and make. You were made with the ability to feel emotions, to think for yourself. I made you without the three robotic laws. You are my greatest creation, but more importantly, you are my youngest son. You, Your brother, and your sister; I could not be any more proud of all of you than I am." He gave an elderly-like smile when he felt a pair of powerful arms return the affection.

Space had given away to a near-blinding white light that dimmed and gave shape to a laboratory; more specifically, Doctor Light's laboratory. It was just the two of them within, no sign of Mega Man and Roll at all. Light points to a window, and nods. X stood at the window, and peered out of it. The outlaying city itself was peaceful itself, even though that there had been numerous attacks from Dr. Wily's numbers. "What do you see, X?"

"A peaceful city..."

"Exactly, my son. Your brother gave up any chance to have any resemblance of a normal life, to save not only the city, but the world. Lives were lost, but had Rock not chosen to fight many more would be lost, and the world would have fallen into catastrophic order." While his lips donned a fatherly smile, his eyes became stern; "I want peace as much as you do. Sacrifices have to be made though. Lives will be lost, but you must be willing, and able, to take the risk to save as many as possible. You have been, and will always do your best. I expect nothing less from my family!"

X nodded, the sickness, hatred, anger, and doubt that clouded his mind faded – resolve forming in his now strong eyes. "Father…Thank you."

"You're welcome, X." He smiled broadly now, eyes softening greatly. "Take care, X. I entrust this foreign future to you. You're needed here as well." Light's voice faded as X's eyes began to close slowly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

X had blinked confusedly as the conscious world took hold, and looked around the room. The barest hint of light came in through his door, which was creaked open somewhat. Weakly, he got to his feet and walked towards the door. He looked down at his body, and realized something was amiss. He still wore his outfit, the blue tee-shirt and jeans, but one thing stuck out like a sore thumb. Instead of brown leather, blue metal was in place. He reached to grab his door knob, from which he let out a yelp and jumped as if said brass knob tried to bite his hand off. He looked at his hand, then the knob, then his blue legs. He reached the door knob, and timidly tapped it – it was surprisingly cold to the touch. Resting the tips of his fingers onto the metal, and marveled at how smooth it was.

He moved his hand to the door, and gently rubbed the palm of his hand upon it; while it was also cool, it was no-where near the coldness of metal, but it had a paradoxical smooth, yet rough feel; while smooth, it wasn't as smooth as the metal door knob. His eyes widened in both wonder, and fear. He tried accessing his diagnostics, only to find that there was no response. Prepared for the sudden chill of death (1), he quietly closed the door. He deftly pulled a pant-leg up, and observed his leg; it was formed like a regular human leg, but armored! He tilted as he looked at the bottom of said foot – it looked exactly as if his reploid legs were active. Then he glanced at the joint; it looked grafted onto his skin.

He sat down then jumped slightly at the feel. Without warning, information flooded into his head.

**Emergency Diagnostics Check, active.**

**Current Status: 89% of Reploid ability is disabled and currently unable to be accessed.**

**Emergency Acceleration System: Active.**

**Air Dash: Active, suggest against use; Omni-Directional Air Dash: Unavailable; Double Air Dash: Unavailable; Anti-gravity pulse: reduced to 25% effectiveness; jumps higher than 100 meters is unadvised.**

**X-Buster: Unavailable.**

**Weapons Systems: Dark Hold – Available; only usable for 10% normal duration. All others unavailable; recovery status unavailable.**

**Body Armor: Current outfit still holds energy from reploid-to-civilian data transfer. 50% defensive capability to target areas. No detected loss of energy. Legs consist of Titanium-X Alloy, 150% defensive capability within the area. Skin suffers from temporary hyper-sensitivity. All other data is unavailable.**

**Helmet / Head: Thermal scanners unavailable; Night-vision unavailable; Long-range sight reduced to 10x magnification; Auditory systems are working at 50% normal capacity. Electronic brain has become an estimated 55% organic, processing power working at 100% regardless of organic corruption. Scanning 'lobe status;' ETA: Unknown. **

**Energy generation: Solar power is enabled through legs. Fusion Generator status is stable, otherwise unknown. Energy generation through food consumption is active and suggested. Detected loss of energy usage, remaining electrical pulses also detect several non-skin human tissues. **

**Current 'status': 89% human functions, 11% reploid, overall strength at 110% average, male boxer. – Conclusion? Cyborg.**

X just stared at the ceiling, wide-eyed. His brain – yes, his now (mostly) human brain, was aching at the sudden influx of information; from the Diagnostics to the hypersensitivity. His eyesight focused in and out, before closing them and curling up somewhat, hands being pressed into his eye-sockets. 'How did this happen? Why have I been turned into this?' He looked down at his wrist, espying several blue veins that should not be visible. Lifting his shirt up, he poked, pinched, and rubbed at the skin along his chest. While he _was_ completely covered head to toe in skin in the civilian form, it wasn't as pliable or soft as it is now.

One last test…He cocked his right fist back, and threw a straight, into a solid wall with some degree of strength…then pulled his fist back wincing as pain shot through his arm, trying his damndest not to yell. 'I must have hit a stud! This hurts like hell!' With a low grunt, he rubbed the slightly bruised knuckle with a frown. 'Diagnostic check; look for what could have caused this in history banks.' The system responded with an 'acknowledged' came just as Miya knocked on his door.

"Ekusu-san? Are you alright?"

"No, Miya-dono, I'm not alright. Please…come in." He said with a twinge of steely irritation in his voice, holding the door open for the landlady to walk in. With a silent close of the door, X lifted up a pant-leg to show his dilemma. "Remember my story last night, about what I am?" With a nod, he dropped the cloth. "Something happened. I'm no longer able to access any of my armors or powers, with the exception of my acceleration unit, and one of my abilities. I'm nothing more than a cyborg." If the sour look on his face didn't convey his feelings, the tone of distress did.

Miya gave him a pleasant smile as she nods. "Don't worry, Ekusu-dono. You'll be fine, I'm positive of it. So I take it your current outfit is your only one?" Another nod earned a giggle. "Go take a bath. We'll go out and do a little extra shopping after breakfast. I'll just try and garner a little more work out of you."

X gave the woman a full bow. "Thank you, Miya-dono."

"It's quite alright. You're still in need, aren't you?" She walked out of X's room with a bow towards her tenant. "I'm still in the process of making breakfast, so feel free to take a bath or get outside. I'll leave some clothing for you if you decide to take one. The bath is just down the hall."

"I can't even begin to thank you enough, Miya-dono - you've showed a stranger so much hospitality. When I get my own problem sorted out, I'll most certainly repay you."

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Matsu let out a tired yawn, sitting upright as she awoke from her slumber. Resting her hands within her head, she frowned slightly as she recalled last night's events; her curiosity got the better of her to the point where she used her 'Access Search' on X. Somewhere along the lines in her scan, she had fallen into a deep trance and eventually fell to sleep. Dreams of her own came to surface; visions of war, varying to multiple degrees of intensity and length, and in each one she saw her potential Ashikabi; fighting with pain in his eyes, but duty in his movements.

She watched each fight with 'awestruck' written plain on her face. The blue-armored reploid was extremely agile on his feet, and a force to be reckoned with in terms of power, only rivaled by his red counterpart and Karasuba; if she had to hazard a guess, she'd also put him up with Miya if he ever got truly furious.

But what was wrong today? She woke up, and could still feel him, but…he felt extremely different. Her mind boggled over the different possibilities, and each result drew her closer to a headache. Her eyes turned to a screen and smiled when she saw X, clothed in a blue track-suit, walk out of the bath. The more she looked, the more she felt her heart throb and her body as a whole heat up to nigh unbearable standards. Whatever happened, it made the reaction to him all the stronger. This was something she would have to ponder over the course of a few days.

'For now though,' she thought as she turned the camera feed off. 'It'll be best to plan out my strategy.' With a perverted giggle, she removed her glasses and rose to her feet. 'Today, Eku-tan, I'll show myself to you today.'

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The beat of techno music throbbed from the club that a short-haired individual stood outside of. He couldn't quite pin down why they were still operating at this ungodly hour in the morning; looking down at his watch for the umpteenth time that morning; 08:30. 'It's 21:30 at home now, I guess. What would the 'rents think of this situation?' His eyes darted from the large clock on top of the building, down to the two bouncers who prevented a geeky-looking guy like him from entering with the woman who claimed to be his lover. 'When she pouted, they almost relented, but _my_ stupid ass had to say "I'll wait out here for you. Go on, have fun!" Cadis, you sure know how to pick the best of moves.' He continued with a push of his glasses.

His attention however, was diverted when he saw his charge, and 'lover,' walk out of the club along with four or five other men, all clamoring for her attention. Cadis' intense maroon eyes locked onto hers, and the tired look gave way to enthusiasm; she jumped from the top flight of stairs, into his arms that suddenly opened when he saw that look – it was the same one he got _every_ _god damn_ time she decided to jump him.

"Cadis-Sama!" This brunette, red-berette wearing woman yelled as she was caught, albiet just barely if his backwards stumble was anything to go by. She was at a short 5'3, where-as he stood at 6'5, whenever the dress-wearing mass of glee wasn't trying to take him down to the ground. Her hair was long, down to her perfectly curved derrier. Her body itself held perfect curves all over; not an ounce of fat upon her frame, and equal proportions. Her deep, loving sea-blue eyes stare into Cadis' near lucid-like mahogany-hued eyes.

"Did you have fun?"

"I sure did! But..."

"But?"

She comically whapped him on the head. "I would've had even _more_ fun if you came in with me!" She said with an endearing pout, poking him in the chest agressively to emphasize her irritation with him. "If you would've let me use my power, then you would've..." Cadis pulled a hand up to say 'Stop.'

"You know I don't like confrontations and you know I'm relatively peaceful. Let's keep it like that for as long as we can, until the Sekirei Plan comes into full swing." He turned his back to the still throbbing club as she walked to his side. "Come on, Iris. I havn't slept yet, so let's go home and rest."

"Hai, Cadis-Sama!" She chirped, and lead him on, despite the fact that it was _supposed_ to be the other way around. His strings of barely-audible, indignant grumbles about 'This is wrong' earned several soft giggles.

This tirade stopped soon, and Iris stopped pulling; the two walked side-by-side, calmly through a park without a care in the world. "Iris?" He looked down to her with a soft smile.

An inquiring hum was met, the diminuitive sekirei cuddling against him as an unfavorable chill came through. She met his gaze.

"I love you." Was all that he said, leaning down to lock lips with her. He was stopped, as a loud and booming cackle was heard reverbrating through the park. Two beings jumped from the trees, and landed infront of Iris and Cadis, who stepped in between the two intruders and Iris, who looked both pissed and worried.

"Cadis-kun, have you come to a decision with Higa-sama's deal?" The one speaking was almost as tall as Cadis, wearing a purple-and-yellow S&M like outfit, not unlike Hibiki's and Hikari's, with slightly tanned skin.

"I thought about it...Ichiya, and Toyotama, was it?" He said with a smart-assed grin.

"And, your response?" The green-haired Sekirei inquired with a grin.

"I thought about it for over a week now, since I was offered the deal...It _would_ be in every Ashikabi's and Sekirei's interest to tear down MBI. But the more I thought, the more curious I got."

"What are you getting it?" Ichiya asked, whatever was left of her business mode, was done.

"I've done my own digging on your Ashikabi. What I saw, was appaling." He frowned, folding his arms across his chest now. "He doesn't give a rats ass about Sekirei at all; his own, his assistant's, anyone's."

The two stared at him with fury evident in their eyes. "What's that, you dweeby Ashikabi!?"

"You heard him! I saw how he talks to you, how he treats the others! He treats you well enough, but there's no love! There's no cohesion to you, there's nothing other than your own power, but without the power of love you won't be able to get anywhere! And where do-" She was cut off as Cadis rose an arm.

"Aside from the fact that there's the lack of love or any real 'bonds' amongst Sekirei, I was also thinking...What was in it for _me and Iris_? Truth be told, there was nothing in it for us, as far as I could see. Yeah, he was offering us a _lot_ of money, but the fact that he had to spy on us to figure out our weak points in pride?"

Iris stood beside her Ashikabi, and drew energy into her hand, focusing it into a long blade. "Blade Sekirei number 33, Iris Conleth will be your opponent!"

Cadis did the same, manifesting a similar energy sword into his hand. "As will the Channeling Ashikabi, Cadis Conleth!" The difference between Cadis' weapon and Iris', was that while slender and roughly three feet long, it looked solid enough to pass as a blue-painted weapon from a distance. Cadis', while two-handed by nature and four feet long, didn't look nearly as intimidating as Iris' did, at least to the two Sekirei.

A maniac grin crossed the lovers' features, the lust for battle beginning to block their higher cognitive senses, and the two charged over to their opponents - Cadis taking on Ichiya and Iris Toyotama.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

-END-

1: Chill of Death, in this case, is an exaggerated metaphor for the door knob that freaked X the fuck out. Since he is now effectively a cyborg, only having use of his dashing ability, his brain is being overloaded with hypersensitivity – he wasn't completely awake to notice the feel of the floor or futon; it's like when you go into the bathroom in the middle of winter after coming out of a deep sleep. While it can be argued that his clothes should have woken him up from the get go, he was in such a deep sleep that his body was able to adjust to the feel.

Holy shit, I have to say that I wasn't expecting this story to be so popular. With that said, Thanks to all the reviewers, favorites, and follows! I'm feelin' slightly accomplished. The scene between Dr. Light and X was intended to be a moment of weakness for X, and a moment of father / son bonding / comfort type deal.

X:…Why…Why have I been turned into a cyborg? WHAT DID YOU DO!?

Remember that phrase I used last chapter, 'Character Development?' This isn't just for your sake, but for your Sekirei's sake to boot. Plus, seeing you act like on drugs is fucking hysterical! I think I've made you a little _too_ respectable to people though. What to do with you, X, What to do.

X: Preferably nothing else. . .

Hah! You're funny, good sir.

X: You're trying to piss a good chunk of us off, aren't you? Putting me in a harem, and pairing Iris with an unknown fellow? More importantly, how are you gonna explain it?

Yes and No, X. Yes and No. I'll explain in all due time, sir!

In my rendition of the first battle with Sigma I decided to make the 'younger' X more susceptible to his emotions. I'm using Maverick Hunter X as a base here – In the SNES version, Zero dies in the first fortress. X's anger, to me, has boiled over and isn't as potent as it should've been. Granted there was no dialog, just Sigma's monolog. With MHX, Zero's death is very fresh in his mind. He's pissed; and that's putting it lightly. The sheer amount of anger he has is what enabled him to use the Hadoken, which I'm not certain if he'll have it at all in the present time. He has the mentality of a 15 year old around then, maturity and computer-brain be damned – I felt that his emotion should have been _much _more explosive. I'll think about letting X keep the Hadoken and Shoryuuken, come time for X to get his armor back. There was no Velguarder here in this rendition, as it would have taken away from the main goal and point of the dreams – His being driven by two things – justice, and emotions.

This chapter went under two revisions before I got it to this point. Even then, when Matsu was reintroduced, I had a difficult time trying to get the words to flow. If it feels forced, that's why and I apologize. This is treading into unfamiliar territory for me, so any criticism would be much appreciated. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites, folks. It means a lot. And, thanks to both Teiki and Agitooo for the suggestions of changing X's civilian name, I'm currently torn between keeping it Ikusu or Ekkusu. Damn you both!

About Cadis! I'm not going to spoil much about him, other than he will play a somewhat integral role later on, introducing X and Minato to 'Ashikabi Abilities.' I got the idea from seeing Seo drain Tsukiumi's power - 'If he can have an ability like that, why can't any other Ashikabi?' Even if it was 'endorsed' by Takehito, there's still a possibility that it _could_ happen. And yes, Iris _is_ the Iris from Megaman X 4 / Xtreme 2. Every Ashikabi have two abilities that are the same, and one that truly defines them, something unique.

Anyway, Chapter 3 will be started sooner or later; can't rush quality, regardless of the lack of said quality. I think I'll start posting teasers if it takes me longer than a month to get a chapter out.


	3. Glorified Genocide

_The Blue Ashikabi_

A Megaman X / Sekirei Crossover

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters within this story; all property towards their successful owners. I make no profit off of this what so ever.

Chapter 3: Glorified Genocide

A/N: Don't own Sekirei nor Mega Man X.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Cadis let out a long, weary sigh as Ichiya fell to one knee, beaten but not eliminated. Pointing his energy-blade at her with a wry, almost psychotic grin on his visage. "Take this message to Higa; I decline unkindly, and hope he suffers in whatever comfortable hell he's in." There was no malice in his voice, just straight to-the-point. He was barely any better than Ichiya, battered, bruised, and bloody. If he had to hazard a guess, there felt like there was a rib or three were broken. Adrenaline and Sekirei energy were flowing throughout him, though, powered by Iris' near-divine and pure love for her Ashikabi, and his to her.

Toyotama was down completely, eliminated easily by the empowered Iris. She stood, by the side-lines and waited for her Ashikabi to be in dire straits before needing to jump in; his orders. It would be a blatant lie if she said she wasn't pissed off beyond recognition from his recklessness, but still found it in her to smile when her purple energy faded from his body - he staggered, howling in pain when Iris grasped him. They made their way to the nearby MBI hospital, once the choppers had taken Toyotama away.

"Cadis-sama, that was reckless. You almost died!"

"But it was worth it. I havn't felt so alive in so long." Coughing, he added in a sarcastic afterthought. " I _knew_ there was a reason why I stopped fighting so much." His body collapsed over her, but she held no issue in bearing the extra 245 pounds of his body and darting away.

_'If he hadn't kissed me when he did, he and I would be the ones getting carted away like that. Down to luck, once again...'_ she frowns, but it slowly turns into a smile. '_He may be an idiot, but he's my idiot.'_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Minato woke up with a slow start vaguely remembering a dream that involved Musubi - but it was gone from the vestiges from his mind as he thought back to the night prior. He _knew_ he heard someone say 'Help me,' as they were plummeting to their seeming death. His eye-brows furrowed in thought while he thought about this; the only thing he remembered from his dreams, after Musubi disappeared from them, was a child with long, blonde hair. She was sobbing softly, hiding up in trees; and she said her name was...Kusano? Strange. He shook his head though, and looked over to the stirring Musubi.

"Mnn…" It took her a little bit of effort to rid the remnants of the Sandman's handy-work but she eventually righted herself up with a stretch and a cleansing yawn. "Ah, Minato-sama; good morning! Did you sleep well?"

The young ashikabi looked over to Musubi, and stared...the gym shirt and bloomers combination; he backed away and covered his nose. "A-ah! Musubi-chan! I..I slept very well, thank you!" he stuttered as his hand shot over his crotch in a vague attempt to cover his arousal. "Yes, very nice! B-But if you don't mind..." His mind trailed off, eyes lowering from hers to the curvature of her breasts, to taking in the her taut, fitting figure - _almost_ every straight man's wet dreams given form. "I'm...I'm going to let you change!" he finally squeaked out, bolting out of the room.

'Cold water! Yes! I need lots and lots of cold water!' Minato thought; if he had voiced it, his shouts of rightful indigniation would be heard clear across the city.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tsukiumi let out a monster of a sneeze that could be heard through a good portion of Shinto-Teito.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

X winced as the extremely sensitive skin of his legs hit the hot, steaming water, but lowered himself at an old man's pace. "Eesh, this…this is too much." He said with a sigh, finally calming down once his whole frame relaxed in the tub. "Not even two days since I've arrived in this strange world, let alone a full hour since I awoke and something's gone horribly, horribly wrong…" he trailed off, running a hand through his brown locks. He looked up to the ceiling, recalling the events of the past two days or so, and attempting to figure out where this all went horribly wrong.

'A fragment of Sigma attacked in Sector 74 of Abel City. We destroyed it and caused a massive virus to overtake the Space Colony Eurasia. I volunteered to pilot the shuttle in place of Zero into the Eurasia, and somehow there was an energy reaction that caused me to slip from my own world and time into this one, one hundred years in the past, at the least. There was an increase of power in the Falcon Armor, and as of 44 minutes ago I've come to the realization that I'm more human than ever…' his thoughts trailed off, looking down at his bare, toned and unmarred chest. He made a fist, and pounded it lightly in hopes to hear a metal 'clunk,' but only met with a solid, flesh-and-bone thud. A slightly depressed sigh escaped from him as he submerged himself into the bath. 'What am I going to do…?'

That same soul-depth sickness came over him again as the feelings of pure weakness and helplessness came over. He sat upright, and glared down at his reflection, remembering Dr. Light's words to him in his dreams; a wellspring of emotions overcame him at the same time- anger, joy, sadness, pride, going deep into a trance when Zero's words came back to him from two and a half days ago. 'There are some things that can't be analyzed correctly as data; they must be felt instead.'

'I'll keep fighting for the sake of both humanity and reploids!' He recalled himself saying passionately to his creator.

'There are others who need you here now; Zero will take care of the humans and reploids.' Dr. Light's assuaging to his worry.

'X! What the hell do you think you're doing, moping around here like everything's hopeless!' A familiar voice came to the back of his head. 'Don't stop fighting, don't stop going on. Even when all seemed lost with the Eurasia, we still tried. Never, ever give up in the face of despair. Now go on and do your damn job, Maverick Hunter X!'

"Zero…?" X asked around, looking around the steam-filled bathroom as sheer confusion came over his features. "What was that…?"

His attention was drawn as the doors slid open, with attractive, busty woman made her way into the bath, donning only a towel. Her red hair, long and braided, swayed lightly behind her back; orange eyes stared into X's, who blinked then pushed his back against the wall. She walked over to him with a shy grin. "Ekusu Hikari; a man without any history recorded on any national database. Estimated to be twenty years old based on looks, though maturity and intelligence levels suggest otherwise." She was walking slowly to him and kneeled down by the tub, close to him. "However, you have a long and immeasurable history littered with war and the pain of loss; not of your own unit, but also the ones you had to hurt...But more importantly…my Ashikabi." That shy grin changed into the purest, truest, most loving smile imaginable.

Before we go any further with this, let's take some time to review a few facts. A: X is now by majority a young, healthy human male. B: Even as a full reploid, he knew a beautiful woman when he saw one (Alia being the first that came to mind,) and this woman was no exception. C: He is currently suffering from hypersensitivity, and finally D: She's very, very close to him. X's face lit up like an overly decorated house on the holidays; a bright red came over his cheeks as he stuttered, reached for any form of explanation or protest…and found none. However, the reaction of his blushing and incoherent bustling of confusion earned a giggle from the woman.

"Sekirei number 2…The Sekirei of Wisdom, Matsu…" She trailed off and leaned in close to him over the edge; X was stunned. There was a moment, before both parties felt a pulse of unbearable heat flashed over them. X closed his eyes…

Their lips met- at first it was just soft and additional warmth but he could feel her desire, eagerness, and love in the kiss, let alone the cliché 'shocking' feeling that overtook his senses. His green, startled eyes snapped open to see golden 'wings' spread from her back. She had pulled away, red as a beat with the loving smile still plastered on her face, but there was something else in her eyes. Elation, perhaps?

X barely heard her say "for now, and forever my Ashikabi" when he blacked out, all cognitive and instinctual thinking stopping. His first kiss from an insanely well-endowed woman, not to mention hormones that should even _exist_ for him raging unbelievably so on top of the stress from everything being piled on all at once…his brain short-circuited.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Subtle beeping snagged his waking conscious. The beeping grew louder, conscious coming back to him. His deep, emerald green eyes slowly opened, looking up at a vaguely familiar ceiling. The beeping kept bringing him to full alertness to allow him to start up mentally. His eyes set themselves into the usual calculating style, focusing upon the ceiling.

"That's right. I'm still in Maison Izumo. This...is my room." He said calmly, rising up to his feet. With a downward glance, he spied a black tracksuit, recalling the memories that lead to his passing out. Blushing hard as he recalled the woman called Matsu, the display of six wings of golden light but more importantly to his young mind, the softness and taste of her lips. With great difficulty he pushed that thought to the side and opened the door. 'I'm going to have to talk to her about this. What was all of that back there?' X made his way to the stairs, but was stopped and pulled into Matsu's room before he could process what was going on.

"W-Wha-" He couldn't get any words out, being shushed by Matsu with her hand. She looked away from him shyly, speaking quietly. "Ekisu-tan...I'm sorry about startling you like I did. I didn't mean to cause you to black out. Are you alright?"

With a nod, he rubbed his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm alright...uh...Matsu-san, wasn't it?"

She blushed and nodded with a quiet hum. "I found out all about your history when you were asleep. My ability as a sekirei allows me to communicate, one-way, to any electronic device...and since you were a full reploid when I started..." She trailed off, looking somewhat ashamed; as blunt and tactless as she is, she hadn't expected, nor prepared at all for X - the reaction caused her maiden heart to act with extreme recklessness. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed with a full bow.

"It's...It's alright, I think. It turned out alright in the end, I guess." X said in a comforting tone. 'What's happening to me? Where is this coming from...?' "Can you explain to me what that was earlier...?"

"When you came to Maison Izumo I started to have a reaction to you. I started to feel a strong warmth coming over me when I first saw you. We sekirei have reactions to our destined Ashikabi, and my body started to react to you. I felt so warm, and before you went to sleep the heat got nearly unbearable...but I looked at your history while you slept. When I woke up and you were going to the shower room that reaction I felt before exploded violently. I...couldn't help myself. So I came in to join you...and well, here we are."

With a soft nod, he continued to peer at her, looking into her eyes to see how much of her tale was truth - which was nothing but.

"What were those wings I saw?" He finally asked after a minute of silence.

"That was emergence...when a Sekirei becomes emerged, or winged, we gain our crest and bond to our ashikabi." With the curious eyebrow, she continued "The bonds run differently between Ashikabi and Sekirei pairings. Our strengths are based on the love we have for and feel from our Ashikabi, and our lives are based upon an Ashikabi. If our Ashikabi is killed, any sekirei he winged will fall. If one Sekirei is terminated though, the rest are fine. I've seen that some Ashikabis and Sekirei pairs or couplings gain a unique power, though they are very uncommon."

X nodded in understanding. "How many Sekirei can a single Ashikabi wing?"

"Theoretically, a single Ashikabi could wing all the Sekirei. Though, once a Sekirei is winged, he or she may never find another Ashikabi, even if they've been knocked out of the game, destined Ashikabi or not. There's a few forceful wingings, and that's the most painful thing to us." She frowned and shook her head.

"And...The people who found you, MBI, sponsors this...game?" X's blood was beginning to boil.

"Unfortunately, yes. Terminated or killed, it doesn't matter. We're nothing but property to them."

He had enough; he turned his back to her and ran both hands through his hair. "I'm going to think this through...This information is a little too much." He said with an uncharacteristic snarl.

Matsu gave a sad, almost hurt frown, but sighed quietly. "Alright, Ekisu-tan...Will you come see me again soon? I have more things to talk about."

He turned his head to her and nodded calmly. "Of course. Once I settle these thoughts, we'll handle things properly. I think Miya wanted me to go shopping with her today, so...maybe that will clear my head."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Flowing blonde hair fell down her back; she was terrified, alone, and sad. All she wanted to do was go see the outside for once, and kept pestering Takami to let her play outside despite the scientist's disapproval of the thought. Eventually Takami had relented and gave up, mumbling something about reminding her of her own kids when they were that young. Besides, fresh air in the arboretum would be good for the both of them and it might have let the youngest Sekirei become more accustom to her powers. At least that was Takami's reasoning behind it.

But this child felt so bad; it was her selfishness that got Takami injured – there was a lot of blood, and she lost control of her powers as well – she was terrified beyond all belief; she was almost forced to emerge by the same person who ordered the attack. She silently prayed two things that evening – for Takami to forgive her, and for her Onii-chan to come to her rescue, like he said he would in the dreams.

'Please…come find me, Onii-chan…Please!' Little Kusano pleaded to the skies above.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The sun was in its crescendo down the horizon bright orange, red, and faint purple hues bleeding into the sky by the time X and Miya were on the trek home. The shopping ordeal had given the other an insight into the other's personalities. To Miya, X had given off a strong, level-headed aura with a hint of confusion and worry and to X, she seemed no different than the first day they met; motherly and caring, but the history of her troublesome past bled into her voice from time to time, with the conversation straying primarily to the current times and catching X up.

As they began a decent down the crest of a large hill, X stopped to spare a wary look around the streets, paying special attention to the rooftops. Miya stopped to look back at him with a confused brow. "Is everything alright, Ekusu-san?"

With a turn of his head, he looked over to Miya and nodded some. "Yeah, I think so. I'm just getting a strange feeling, like we're being watched and followed." He took one last look up to the skyscrapers surrounding them and shook his head. "If there was anything there, isn't anymore." With a noncommittal shake of his head, X quickly jogged to Miya's side once again and continued the walk home in the emptied streets after giving one last quick glance to one particular skyscraper in the far, far distance.

"I must apologize for Matsu's earlier actions, Ekusu." Miya stated out of the blue.

X gave Miya a surprised look. "It's…It's alright. I'm going to speak with her when we get back, there's still so much I have to ask," he sighed as he continued, "I need to apologize to her as well, and you in advance if I become very short-tempered. All of this is too much to handle right now. The things happening before I came here, and now this…'game' as she called it? It's…" He gave a disgusted growl, the mere thought threatened to send bile to his mouth. "I'm going to rip into MBI if I ever figure out what happened to my power. Using living people for a 'game' isn't right under any means. Historically there's been similar, with the Gladiator games, but there have been rewards for the participants most of the time; money, freedom, glory, land, something. This is little more than glorified genocide!" X snapped finally as the two walked up to the steps of the Izumo house. He shot Miya a scathing look that caught her by surprise; "What would Takehito-san do about this if he was still alive, would he have allowed it to get to this point?!"

Miya stared at X for a long while, gathering her answer and composure. "Takehito…When he found us twenty years ago, what he did to my people was questionable by human standards, yes. He performed a lot of tests upon us and altered all of us down to our cores. Would he allow these 'games' to happen? No; with my whole heart, I can say that he would not have allowed it to get like this." She looked at X with a rueful smile on her lips. "Ekusu, whatever MBI does now, and what they did twenty years ago would be comparing the sun to the moon. While I'm not sure what Takehito had planned for us at the end of it all, this Sekirei plan was not it." Looking up to the sky with that wistful smile still in place, she added in quietly; "All of the Sekirei here were like his kids; I doubt very much that he would've allowed Minaka to get as far as he has." She gave a small hum and nod, moving past X into the house. "Come along now, I'm sure everyone's starting to get hungry, and Matsu's most likely waiting for you."

"Yeah...You're right. Sorry for snapping like that." X said sincerely.

"It's alright, I agree with your sentiments whole-heartedly. It's good to see that someone outside their home, let alone time, have the energy to care about others. I'll come bring both of your plates up to you then. Oh, and Ekusu-san?"

"Yes, Miya-dono?"

"Please keep my history, and Matsu, a secret from everyone else for now." Sweet venom dripped from Miya's voice, the Oni mask appearing behind her head. "I wouldn't want to have to evict you."

With a nervous chuckle and nod, X bolted away and up the stairs, giving a quick survey to the upper floor before sliding Matsu's hidden door open, and sliding into the monitor-lit room. He sat down behind the focused woman, clearing his throat as he did so. So into her thoughts was she, that she jumped a good foot into the air upon hearing her ashikabi. She turned and shot him a glare and pout. "That was mean, Ekisu-tan!"

For the first time since his arrival, actually as far as he could remember, a small bit of laughter escaped from him. "It wasn't intended to scare you, Matsu-san, but you were so in to your research that I didn't know any other way to get your attention."

With a contritely adorable pout, she turned to face X, confusion written plain as day on her face. "So, what's up?"

"First and foremost, I have to apologize for this morning. I wasn't anywhere near in the right frame of mind." He said with an embarrassed grin. "I'm sorry, Matsu-san." His visage and expression bore nothing but sincerity.

"It's alright Ekisu-tan. You said yourself, that this isn't a normal situation that you're in." She smiled at her Ashikabi once he sat upright, who gave the monitors behind her a curious glance; there was a map of Shinto-Teito up, and with it many nodes, detailing several military movements.

"What's that you're looking at?"

"This? This..." She turned her attention back to the computers with a tilted head. "Is a map of the city, and MBI's military forces. A lot of them seem to be focusing around the arboretum now." She looked at the clock, and frowned. On another monitor, she brought up a news casting site. "MBI has ordered a 2-mile radius evacuation about half an hour ago, and has moved their mobile military unit to the Arboretum. I'm trying to figure out what Minaka's planning."

With a frown, X offered the only possible conclusion he could think of; "Maybe there's an extremely dangerous and unstable Sekirei in there?"

She shook her head and frowned, arms crossing under her considerable bust. "That's a possibility, but...with Minaka, you'll never know what kind of things he has planned; you can bet that there's probably more to it than just that."

As she gave the explanation, X's senses began to distort with the room melting and her voice becoming inaudible over the din of static, the glow of the monitors intensified to blinding levels. The rest happened in a barely decipherable blur; a scythe being cleaved at an adult woman who shielded a...child? A little girl, no less...the child leaping from a tree into a young man's arms, her voice filled with panic for help, and her sobs of being alone. Everything went dark, and one last phrase echoed into his mind; 'There are others who need you here now."

He came to with Matsu shaking his shoulder with a look of worry in her eyes, doubly so in her tone, "Ekisu-tan, are you alright?" X was sitting stiff as a board and upright, eyes opened owlishly with extreme dilation in his pupils. He blinked twice, coming back to his senses.

"Y-yes...Just...had a day-dream or something. What's the matter?"

She gave an unconvinced frown, but looked back to her monitor, reading a message she apparently just received out loud, "'There's a Sekirei in the arboretum. First one there wins - it could be you who makes the Green Girl emerge.' Minaka sent this to all the ashikabi. He intends to make it into a war-zone...but...Isn't the Green Girl number 108?" She set to work, typing furiously at her keyboard. "Ekisu-tan, could you go and..." her attention was diverted, looking back at where her Ashikabi once was. "Ekisu-tan...?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

X's mind was ablaze, eyes wide with both anger and panic as he sped through the city streets towards the arboretum. That message was all it took to smack him back to a sense of normality. 'Is this what you meant when you said that there are others who need me here, Doctor? First one there…Damn them! Playing with an innocent's life like this…' X's thoughts trailed off, a faint trail of afterimages following after as his anger and drive grew. He finally yelled "Damn You, Minaka! I won't forgive you!"

The sun had set over the horizon when X arrived in front of the Arboretum; the main gate was destroyed, and two people were fighting each other; fireball after fireball being thrown, only to be thwarted by a barrier of ice. Two sekirei...fighting out in the middle of the street, in plain sight..._almost._ 'The duration of Dark Hold is 20 seconds...it doesn't look like it'll be much of a problem to slip by them, but...' He looked at the ice-wielding sekirei with a frown. 'Let's see if I can talk them out of this nonsense.' With a deep, steadying breath and timed precision, he jumped into the fray right as a fireball seared underneath him, landing between the two before another could be launched; "That's enough! There's no need to be fighting!" Both hands pointing to both people. To say one of them was stunned was an understatement.

X looked first to the fire-wielding one; dressed in black cloth from head to toe, the only truly distinguishable features of this man were the amber eyes and mop of silver hair. His attention turned to the second person; definitely a woman - the white, loose-fitting yukata, most likely bound only by chains going down her perky, rounded and large breasts. His eyes focused in onto her face; sandy-brown bangs of hair hiding grey eyes, though what perplexed him the most was the despondent look in her half-lidded, exhausted eyes, and a mark upon her forehead.

This woman gave X the smallest of glances; hopeless grey met resolute green. While it was only for a split second, she felt a small warmth fill her. Her attention seemed to focus more on this man before her with the faintest hints of hope entering her eye. '_Ashikabi-sama...?'_

"What are you doing?! You could've been seriously injured just now!" The male behind X called out.

X looked back to the black-garbed male and cocked a brow. "Kagari? What're you doing here?" X's blatant observation caused him to fall down. "Whatever the reasons, you don't have to fight at all. Neither of you do." He turned his attention back to the woman, eyes once again locking onto each other. "What's your name?"

Again, that warm, almost flighty sensation came over the woman. "Akitsu." She shook her head, clearing her mind of the sensation. "People shouldn't get involved with matters that have nothing to do with them. This fight is one of them."

"What is your reason for fighting, Akitsu-san?" X asked; sincerity was in his voice and eyes. "Is it because of the green girl?"

Hers and Homura's eyes narrowed dangerously at him; Akitsu's because of a potential enemy to Mikogami, and Homura's due to a potential Ashikabi coming after the aforementioned green girl. "Yes, Number 108 is the reason for my fighting. If I do not bring her back to Mikogami-sama..." she trailed off.

X shook his head; "You'd bring a little girl to meet someone who might not even be her true Ashikabi?"

"I do what I must. If I fail to bring her back, I will be thrown away again. I will lose my purpose, my use." She responded, despair beginning to come to her usually apathetic voice.

"Lose your purpose? What's wrong with you?! You're a free thinking, sentient being Akitsu-san! Even if you don't have this...Mikogami to give you a purpose, you're not useless in the slightest!"

Her eyes locked to his. "What?"

"You can't let someone control you or give you a purpose. That's something you have to find yourself; but whatever you do, don't make someone else's life a living hell when they don't deserve it..." His eyes closed as he took a deep breath, extending a hand out to her calmly. "I can't guarantee that you'll find your purpose immediately, but I can give you the promise that I'll help you find your way - but you have to meet me half way here."

"Why should I trust you? What guarantee do I have that you won't abandon me?"

"You don't have any other than my word, truthfully. But know this - where I come from, you don't abandon a fellow comrade when they're down."

Throughout the exchange and her own despair at the mere _thought_ of being left for dead, her eyes did not leave his - she could see it in his eyes and posture and she heard it in his tone; this man meant everything he just said for better or for worse. She walked up to X and reached for his hand cautiously, waiting for him to do something entirely contradictive to his words. Their hands touched and that warm, flighty feeling rushed throughout her body again - a little stronger this time. "What is your name, Ashikabi?"

"For now, I am Ekisu Light." His fingers tightened around her hand, giving it a firm shake.

Meanwhile, Homura was staring at the two with surprise plain on his face. 'Ekisu was able to not only diffuse the situation, but bring a strong ally over to our side. The way she flushed at least three times shows that she's reacting to him at least on some degree. What kind of man _are_ you, Ekisu Light?' he thought. He looked over to the forest, as bright purple lights pierced through the forest canopy. "It seems that Yomi's battle is over with. We'll talk more later Ekisu, but I suggest we make a retreat before Mikogami and the MBI choppers come." Homura noticed the cautious glances Akitsu gave them and shook his head. "What you decide to do is your choice, scrapped number. If you decide to come with us, I won't fight with you anymore." With that, Homura jumped up to the skyscrapers.

Ekisu looked back at Akitsu and nodded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go, Akitsu."

For the first time, with as far as she could even _remember_, Akitsu allowed herself a small smile. "Okay...Ekisu-sama..."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

-END-

So, what did we learn about the author? A: He's a lying scum-sucker, B: Has the attention span of a gnat, C: easily loses track of time, or D: All of the above? Answer's D, folks. 2 months and 6 full pages (not including the lengthy author's note) for this crap? Ugh, I'm sorry. So, so sorry. Anyway...

I would like to note that the end of the last chapter and the beginning of this chapter all take place at roughly the same time. X is trippin' balls while Cadis and Iris get their arses nearly trounced, and Minato relents about his dream involving Kusano. The amount of suck in this chapter's in high gear I guess, so apologies for the wait for such low quality. The conversation between X and Miya during their little, non-descript shopping trip was done without anyone close enough to really hear them; Miya spilled a portion of her history, and obtained some history from X.

So - I made Matsu extremely OOC in the beginning of this; I think had Musubi not interupted in the anime / manga, it would've went through in a similar way in cannon. X clocked out, so she couldn't feasibly jump his bones _and_ have him live. Second time, X's highly irritated and was in and out, not much chance FOR her to suggest 'Love's intercourse.' So BWAMF! A little perverted, IC-Matsu, before X decides to go try and play the hero again. Though, as I've stated before with that wonderful phrase 'Character Development,' I'm going to aim to try and make it not so predominant.

The reviews I've gotten for this story floored me, and those of you who are just joining or have been here since the beginning, thank you for them - it's refreshing to know people like my work. I don't have the next chapter even _remotely_ started yet, but I'll get there soonish.


End file.
